Happy 40th Birthday to my Handsome Huzz!

Happy Birthday to my Sweetheart, Eric!  Admittedly, I usually don't gush about my man, but I feel very grateful today to have this man in my life.  Eric is the most wonderful father to our beautiful kids and I am truly blessed to have him beside me.  Thanks to his parents for raising such a fantastic man!  His party was so fun last night -- all I heard all night was laughter and excellent music from 1969 to today.  I'll post more pictures of the bash later.

Happy Birthday Eric!  I love you.

Hanlon Family Day

Eric has been so busy for the last several months and I felt like we needed a family day to spend together with no interruptions.  It was a very nice day.  We decided to go to Lake Las Vegas and rent a paddleboat.  The kids loved being on the water.

We spent about an hour on the water -- which was a lot for Mommy and Daddy.  Our paddleboat didn't move that fast!  As usual, I was the one taking most of the pictures, so the picture of me and Karina is the only one I have of me for the whole day.  Hmmmm . . .

I do love taking pictures of my cute little kids.  They had so much fun in the sun!  We have it all here in Las Vegas -- snow in the mountains and a lake in the desert.

My little Camden is such a handsome little man.  He's looking more and more like his daddy every day.

After our time on the lake, the kids fed the ducks and then we headed off to our next adventure -- BOWLING.  Camden has never been, but with the wii bowling and bowling on the iPhone, he really wanted to try the real thing.  His score wasn't quite as good as the wii bowling scores, but he had so much fun!

Even Karina got in on the bowling fun!  We couldn't believe they made bowling shoes her size.  She didn't like them as much as her princess shoes, but she wore them when she saw us wearing ours.  None of our scores were good enough to report.

When we got home, we rented "The Shaggy Dog" (with Tim Allen) on Apple TV.  It was a great movie and the kids really enjoyed it.  All in all it was a fantastic day and we enjoyed turning our cell phones off and spending it as a family.

February is Over?

We spent pretty much all of February sick with colds and RSV, so clearly the blogging suffered.  Here are a few pictures of things you might have missed:

The kids were so cute pretending to go to school (in their jammies)!

A new tradition was started this year with a few heart pizzas on Valentine's Day -- they were so fun and tasty!

Once the kids started to feel better, they headed outside for some "Daddy Recess" Time!

We also had a little visitor with us for a week.  Peyton (little sis, Jessie's 8 month old baby) was a fun addition to our family for 8 days.  Jessica and her husband, Eric, were moving from Seattle to Savannah and didn't want Peyton to suffer in a car seat for 4 days.  I flew up to Seattle and brought Peyton down here to Las Vegas for her first "Cousin Camp" Vacation!  She is such an easy baby (and so quiet compared to my own).  The night before I flew Peyton back to Georgia, Camden said to me, "So after tomorrow we're only going to have 2 kids?"  It was so funny!  He was a terrific helper with the baby.

So now we're in March and I can't believe it.  Where has the time gone?  We better get our GREEN clothes ready, it's almost time for St. Patrick's Day!  

Sabbath Day Blessings

This will be one of the classic Camden and Karina pics of all time.  I love this!  We keep trying to get Karina out of the crib by giving her a chance to sleep with Camden.  She is very particular about only sleeping in her crib, but wants so badly to sleep in a big kid bed.  This picture is of a recent attempt which failed like all the others.  We'll keep trying . . .

Today was a great day.  Karina went into her class at church and I only had to stay for about 10 minutes and then left.  She loves being in there and her favorite part (when I ask her on the way home) is when she gets to sing, "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider."  The way she sings it is so wonderful!  Camden and I just listened to her sing the whole song on the way home and we couldn't do anything except smile!  Music just gets to me like nothing else!

Camden gave his second talk in Primary today.  The Primary is an organization in the LDS church for children ages 4 - 12.  Daddy and Grandma attended Primary with us to hear Camden's talk.  He was so excited to have his family there to support him.  If he would have had a microphone it would have been perfect.  He didn't seem scared at all.  I think it was an important message for us all, so I'm going to post it here:

The Plan of Salvation 

Before we came to this earth, we were spirits.  We lived with Heavenly Father and Jesus.

We were very happy when Heavenly Father told us we could come to earth and have bodies.

Heavenly Father and Jesus knew we would miss them, so they promised to stay close to us and help us choose the right.

If we choose the right, we can live with them again someday.

I am so proud of my two bambinos.  Whenever it seems like I have more to deal with than anyone else, I go to church and am reminded that all moms have their struggles.  I'm grateful for that.  With that -- I'm off to fold some laundry and go to sleep!

Recess

We had recess today for a few reasons.  First and foremost, Camden got rave reviews from his teacher for his improved behavior since he returned from winter break.  I was so proud I could hardly stand it!  He is also 1 of only 2 kids in the class that can count and write 1 - 100.  He is doing so well.  Eric was the helping parent today in Camden's class and verified all of this to me.

Secondly, the weather here has been pretty decent compared to the rest of the country and I figured we should enjoy it!  And it doesn't hurt to take a break from iCarly every once in a while.  That's Karina's favorite show.  It's on "Teen Nick!"  She is so mature for her age . . . NOT!!

These two can be such love bugs when they want to be!  I'm putting in an order for more of this -- we'll see what happens.

Karina is doing so well on the playground -- she just tries everything until she can keep up with Camden.  She has no fear!

The biggest reason why we played outside today is the way Camden asks.  How could I say no?  He calls it "recess!"  I think it's so cute.  He has finally mastered the swings.  He knows how to get swinging by himself and he gets really high.  He'd swing like that all day.  He was swinging for at least 30 minutes when we were out there.  It's too bad there aren't swings at school.  I used to love swinging in elementary school.  Heck, I have memories of swinging in middle and high school!  Who doesn't love swinging?

I took close to 100 pics of them out there today.  I'm a pic-a-holic!  (That's the photo kind, not the nose kind!  HA!)  I hope you enjoy them.  I sure enjoyed watching them play.  I'll post more pics tomorrow.  Good night!

Karina's Birthday Brunch!

Here are the pics from the birthday brunch today.  We had buttermilk pancakes, cinnamon rolls, hash browns, bacon, and fruit.  It was very yummy.  Too much food for anyone to eat, but delicious (and homemade)!  Karina smiled when I said, "Happy Birthday" to her first thing this morning.  After that, it was up and down -- to say the least!  She is so cute, but very shy around the family.  I think she gets overwhelmed with the number of people looking at her.  Camden was always fine with all that attention stuff -- wonder who he takes after??  

So, here is Karina holding up one of her many outfits she got today.  The girl hit the jackpot of cute clothes -- that's for sure!

This was a really cute wooden puzzle she got.  She did so well opening her own gifts.  Camden was on stand-by right next to her in case she needed assistance.

Here is a red, white and blue dress she got from Aunt Stephanie & Uncle Vinny!  I can't wait for the 4th of July.  Maybe she'll wear it for the inauguration next Tuesday??

Here is her cute face right after she pulled the sheet off her wooden kitchen.  She was so happy she ran over and hugged Daddy and then ran a lap around the living room.  It's a great feeling when you know what the "right" gift is!
She got this cute necklace this morning before the party from Mommy & Daddy.  She wants her own jewelry so badly.  She is also wearing sticker earrings -- can you tell?
No family function is complete without these delicious bad boys!  They were so good today.  (Caution: DO NOT lick your computer screen.  Bad things can happen and people might think you're weird!)

This is what I came up with for her cake.  I knew it had to have pink and yellow, but the butterfly was just beautiful.  I saw it at Michael's and just had to get it.  With the pink and the sparkles -- Karina just LOVED it!

After we sang to Karina and she blew out the candles, Camden said, "Happy Birthday Baby!"  Karina leaned over and kissed him and it was so cute.  This one is just Camden giving her a little "kissie" on the cheek.  When they want to get along, they are so sweet to each other.  I hope they always are.

So, the birthday brunch was a success!  I am so grateful for my little girl.  I had to go through a lot to get her and I definitely treasure her.  She sure can be a stinker, but she is MY stinker and I'm glad she picked me to be her mommy.  I love you Karina -- a.k.a. "Baby!"

Happy Birthday Karina!

Karina turned 2 today!  Happy Birthday Baby.  It's hard to believe it's been that long.  I'll write all the details about her birthday brunch later (after the kids go to bed).  Enjoy the baby pic of my (now) 2 year old.